UN: COVID is Latin America's 'hunger pandemic'

At least 14 million people could go hungry in Latin America as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, shuttering people in their homes, drying up work and crippling the economy, according to projections by the U.N. World Food Program (WFP).

The WFP said whereas 3.4 million experienced severe food insecurity in Latin America during 2019, the number could be quadrupled for 2020 because of the economic impact of the crisis.

The WFP Latin America regional director, Miguel Barreto, called COVID-19 the "hunger pandemic."

Across the region people in desperate situations are violating the lockdowns to go out in search of money and food.

Many are informal workers who make up a sizable portion of Latin America's workforce, while others are newly poor who have lost their jobs.

Governments across the region are delivering food aid for vulnerable and impoverished populations. Recipients say it's not enough.

People are then resorting to soup kitchens and staging protests demanding more and more extensive aid programs.

Numbers of new COVID-19 cases are mounting quickly across the region.

Brazil now ranks second globally in the number of COVID-19 cases, with more than 411,000 cases and 25,598 deaths.

Peru has more than 135,00 cases and over 3,900 deaths.

The situation is now a major concern for the Pan American Health Organization.

Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to see a 5.3 percent economic contraction this year, possibly a sharper drop than during the Great Depression.